Wine domain names can move forward without additional restrictions.

The New gTLD Program Committee of ICANN’s board has given the green light for the .wine and .vin top level domain names to move forward without additional restrictions. [Update: put a cork in it! The GAC has apparently found a procedural error that will delay the Board’s decision.]

A number of governments, particularly in Europe, were opposed to the delegation of the domain names without added protections. Specifically, they are worried about the use of place names such as Champagne at the second level.

The debate resulted in a number of letters from all sides of the issue.

At the end of the day, the Governmental Advisory Committee did not come to consensus on the issue. ICANN was thus able to move the applications forward without restrictions.

There are three applicants for .wine and one for .vin.

Source: domainnamewire.com/